The Clear Water's Surface
by Tebbers
Summary: OOT - Oneshot. A little side note for the past. A chance meeting between a young Zelda and her unexpected savior.


Characters from Nintendo.. mostly.

Just a little random sidenote from Two Sides to the Coin. Despite the characters listed here, it is not DLxZ. This is in the past; she's something like 3 feet tall. Ew.

The Clear Water's Surface

Zelda stumbled through the darkness, trying desperately to keep up with her beastly captors, but her short legs hardly kept up well enough. The growls were impatient, and their language broken, but she wasn't stupid. She could pick up the name of their leader, even if he were absent. Ganondorf was making some move already. Her dreams had indicated that it would happen later than this, and she couldn't piece together what it was.

For now, she staggered on as she'd been doing most of the night, trying to catch her breath and wishing beyond belief that Impa would appear from nowhere as she usually did and whisk her back home to the safety of the castle. The narrow canyon they'd been jogging through opened up, and the faintest moonlight reflected off the largest body of water she'd seen yet in her short life. Lake Hylia. She knew it, though she'd never been far outside the castle walls to see it herself. If this was indeed where she thought she was, then they'd actually made good time from the castle. Somewhere buried deep, a bit of pride sparkled, and the seed of ego took root. In her more logical mind, however, she wondered where they were going from here. Surely not simply into the lake, and there was nowhere else to go from here.

She cast a glance around beyond her captors, seeking an opening for escape, or worse, some sign that they were approaching their destination. She saw neither, but the shadows of the night seemed to be moving around her. As suddenly as she noticed it, she seemed to run out of ground to jog on, and she tipped off the precipice into a pitch black hole. The screeches of her captors followed her, but their bodies did not, and the sound was cut off suddenly. Something caught on the back of her dress, halting her drop, and she lifted out of the shadowy hole in which she'd fallen. The ripples of moonlight danced over the surface of the lake. Hazy blue clouds glowed softly with their own light. The evening seemed brighter now, and she took in the expanse of Lake Hylia.

"And what have we here?" A voice asked as she was turned away from the lake. It belonged to the man holding her aloft. He was dressed in black, and his red eyes had a faint luminescence. In his other hand, he held a sword, still slick with the blood of her captors, whose bodies littered the ground behind him. She took it in, horror at the sight washing over her, and overflowing into her logic. "You must be the little Princess Zelda. Something tells me this was an unplanned visit?" He said again, grinning broadly. This man that seemed to have saved her was suddenly very frightening, and she could find neither boldness nor voice to answer or challenge him. Instead, she curled in on herself, wishing again that Impa were near. "Fine. Calm down." He said with a sigh, lowering her to the ground. She found her feet, but couldn't find the strength to run.

With a flick of his wrist, he slung the majority of the blood from his sword and sheathed it, apparently finding something in his other hand more interesting. "And you've got this too." He said, turning it over in his hands. She couldn't make out the shape in the dark, but quickly figured it out when he brought it to his lips and played a few dissonant notes.

"That's mine!" She said suddenly, with enough force to surprise herself.

He lowered the ocarina and smirked down at her. "This is the Ocarina of Time, huh?"

An embarrassed flush reddened her cheeks. It was a bit of an obvious reaction, and she found it ironic that someone would know it at a glance when she'd only breathed word about its existence hardly days before, to Link, the boy that would save them all. She shook it off and tried to gloss over her reaction. "N-no. Well, it's my ocarina, but there's nothing timey about it."

He laughed aloud and ruffled her hair as he brushed past her. "Is that so?" He called over his shoulder.

She stood dumbly for a moment, unable to answer or follow him. He was acting so casual in her presence, even though he'd named her as royalty. Just who did he think he was? And how did he know about the Ocarina of Time. And why was he keeping it?! She whirled quickly, shaking off her shock and followed him as he walked to the edge of the water. "O-okay. It is. How do you know about it?" She stammered.

He stopped at the edge of the water, looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his face, the ocarina still in his hand. He sat down, and grinned broadly at her. She wasn't sure how to take that answer, but at least he was down at her eye level now. A long moment passed, and she felt uncomfortable under his red eyes. Those were unnatural. He closed them for a moment, chuckling. "Sit down. Here." He held out the ocarina to her.

She was careful not to be too eager in snatching it away, but couldn't move fast enough to reclaim the treasure. Once it was safely in her possession again, she felt infinitely more comfortable, and sat down on the grass. It was cool and slightly damp. She really couldn't bring herself to care. "Did you really save me?"

"Nah." He stared out over the water, failing to hide a smile. "All those moblins just ran into my sword. That's all. Gotta watch out with the sharp toys." He grinned down at her.

She couldn't help but giggle. This all seemed like a joke to him. Just a passing phase. He seemed carefree, just like Link. "Why keep sharp toys then?" she played along, her tension easing, but more than anything, glad to be sitting down. Her adrenaline at nearly losing the ocarina had restored her strength, but even that was fading fast.

"Because then I can stab people." He said, punctuating the statement with a thrusting motion. By the time he fully extended his arm, there was a short dagger in his hand. Where he'd pulled it from, Zelda had missed. He looked at the dagger, black blade and no decoration. "It can be fun. You should try it." He grinned over at her. She shifted uncomfortably and didn't answer. He laughed again, dropping his arm to his side, the dagger gone. He turned back to the lake.

She followed his glance, wondering what he saw, if his eyes saw any better in the dark than hers. The quiet of the evening was everywhere. The only sound the lapping of the waves on the shore. She wondered again where Impa was, and heard the screams of some unknown animal carrying faintly on the wind. Clouds covered the moon, blotting out what little light her eyes had grown accustomed to, and she moved closer to her unfamiliar savior. "What's your name?" She asked softly.

He didn't speak for a while, and when he did, he didn't answer her question. "The clear water's surface reflects growth." He said quietly.

She thought for a moment about what he said, somewhat distracted by the fact that he hadn't answered her, thus fanning the flames her curiosity about his name further. "But I can't see the water." She said slowly, not quite sure what he meant.

"I know." He said. "But like a river's flow, time passes. People move. It never ends." He sprawled his legs out before him and leaned back, staring up into the starry sky.

She hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't understand." What was he trying to tell her? Why couldn't he tell her more clearly? Even her dreams were easier to decipher. She furrowed her brow, thinking hard to match the pieces together.

He smiled down at her, his eyes shining in the dark. "That's alright. Young love will become deep affection and a childish mind will turn to noble ambition."

Ambition she understood. Love and affection were a little more distant. Sure, she loved her father, and had loved her mother before she'd died, and loved Impa very much, but that was all she allowed herself. The image of Link's trusting smile and ready agreement to her plans flashed across her mind. She brushed it aside. Her marriage would be arranged, as generations before her had done. "But.." The protest trailed off. She didn't know what she wanted to say.

"Here, let me teach you a song. It'll help it all make sense." He rocked his weight forward, folding his legs in front of him and producing a grey ocarina from somewhere. He raised the instrument and played a smooth and flowing melody.

She listened as he played. The clouds cleared the moon, and the lake shimmered with the light again, and then she saw it. This water had been everywhere. It had always existed. People were born. They drank the water. They grew strong. They grew old. They died. The water flowed back into the lake. She would do the same, though she felt more like the water, ever returning to the lake and being drawn out of it. It didn't make too much more sense than when he'd simply said it, but somehow, her heart understood through the song.

He stopped playing a moment, glancing sidelong at her, noting the distance in her eyes. "You understand now?" She nodded, still seeing time open up before her. "Good." His tone snapped her back to the present. "Now learn it."

She fumbled the Ocarina of Time from the folds of her muddy dress, and he started to play again. She fumbled through the notes, trying to match the tones. He patiently played on, waiting for her to catch on, and shortly, they had a nice harmony going. He stopped abruptly. She played on for a few more notes before dropping her hands to her lap. "What is that song?"

He smirked at her. "It's called the Serenade of Water. Remember it. You'll be needing it la-" He cut off suddenly at the sound of hoof beats thundering through the canyon.

Zelda looked from him to the sound and back. "What is it?" She whispered fearfully.

"Sheikah." He said, and with that, his body turned to water, cascading into the grass and flowing toward the sandy shore.

"But!" She leapt to her feet, both assured that by Sheikah, he'd meant Impa, because she was the last of them, and fearful at his sudden retreat. He'd struck her as so confident, but now he was gone.

"Zelda!" Impa's voice crushed Zelda with relief, and she ran to the call.

From across the water, he watched the older Sheikah woman leap from her horse before it had even stopped and scoop up the tiny little princess. He smirked. Such a fuss over Zelda. Every time. They didn't speak long, perhaps just assurances of her well being before Impa whisked her away back to the castle.

He leaned back against the tree and occupied himself with a song. It had been a while since he'd bothered with music, and he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed it. The sun was peeking over the cliffs when another passed through the valley to the lake. He cast a glance that direction. It was a small boy. He wore green and carried a short little sword and light wooden shield. Hardly more than toys, but the boy wasn't using them. Instead, he was floundering around in the water, searching desperately for something.

He sensed the power of the forest, and the power of the mountains with the little boy. The floundering search was probably for the water. He wondered for a moment where the zoras kept that stone, because he was sure they were the keepers. The stone was beyond his reach, but if this kid was stubborn enough, he might be able to work with a little hint. He leaned over, dipping his hand into the water, through space and grabbed a bottle from the reeds upriver, moving it closer and depositing it in the water near the boy.

Very shortly thereafter, a shout of triumph came from across the water, followed shortly by a cry of dismay. He chuckled. The kid should have fun dealing with Jabu Jabu.

a/n

Yeah. So I found out that Rutela's music from TP is actually a remix of the Serenade of Water. Glee! It's my favorite song from OOT. I felt like expanding on this meeting, for some reason. It's only mentioned in passing in my yet to be posted Two Sides to the Coin.


End file.
